Cutlery display board



Dec. 21, 1948. I) E.E..cAsE 2,457,032

' CUTLERY DISPLAY BOARD Filed Feb. 17. 1947.

FIG]. FIG.2.

ATTORNEY EMERSON E.CASE

U\27 If V INVENTOR Patented Dec. 21, 1948 CUTLERY DISPLAY BOARD Emerson E. Case, Perry, N. Y., as'signor to Robeson Cutlery Company, Inc., Perry, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 17, 1947, Serial No. 729,099

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a display board for cutlery, such as is used in stores for displaying to the customer the various articles of cutlery on hand.

Heretofore, it has been customary to provide cutlery display boards in which the cutlery items have been permanently or relatively permanently secured to the display board, by wires, screws, or other relatively permanent fastening means. The customer has had to study the various cut lery items merely visually, without the opportunity to actually handle and feel them, notice the Weight and balance characteristics, etc. Then, after making a tentative selection from the articles secured to the display board, the customer has indicated his selection to the clerk and the clerk has then had to reach under the counter, or on to the shelves where the stock of merchandise is kept, and fumble around among vari ous boxes to find the box containing articles like the one selected by the customer, and then take one of the articles out of the box and hand it to the customer. Frequently, upon actually handling the knife or other article which was tentatively selected, the cusotmer will change his mind and decide that this, after all, is not the item he wants, and will tentatively select another style of knife or other cutlery item, from the display board, whereupon the clerk must return the first one to the box in the supply of stock, get out the box containing the second selection, open the box, and hand the article to the customer for further inspection. This operation has not only been time-consuming, but has been unsightly, resulting frequently in several boxes of cutlery lying around on the counter in somewhat disarranged condition.

An object of the invention is the provision of a greatly improved cutlery display board whereby the customer may feel, lift, and otherwise try out the article he sees on the display board, until he finds one that is entirely to his liking. Then this actual article selected by the customer (rather than a duplicate thereof from the stores stock of merchandise) is given to the customer and taken away by him. Then the clerk can reach under the counter or into the shelves and get a duplicate of the article that the customer purchased, and place it on the display board to replenish the complete line of articles on the display board, which replenishment may, if more convenient, be deferred until after the customer has left the store.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a cutlery display board which will normally hold the cutlery items on' the board with sufficient force to obviate any accidental displacement by vibration or the like, but 'which will permit each article instantly and without effort to be removed from the display board and handed to the customer.

The prior display boards, in which the cutlery items have been wired or screwed to the board, have been open to the further obj ection that they have been very difficult to dust and keep clean. Accordingly, it is a further object of the invention to provide a cutlery display board in which the articles displayed and the board itself can be kept dusted with a minimum of effort, the articles being readily removable from the board so that the individual articles may be easily dusted and so that the board itself may be conveniently dusted, washed or otherwise cleaned.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a display board on which new models of cutlery may be placed easily and quickly, to replace discontinued models of cutlery, without the necessity of undoing any screws or other fastening means.

These and other desirable objects are accomplished by the construction disclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in the following description and in the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a cutlery display board in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is an edge view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a modified form of display board; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the magnets used on the display board.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

Referring now to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a cutlery display board including an upright portion indicated in general at ll, having near its bottom edge a projecting shelf or ledge l3 arranged approximately horizontally and adapted to receive and support the butt end of the handle of an item of cutlery such as a knife or fork. The board H is preferably hung in vertical position on a wall of the store, or supported on a counter or in any other suitable location in a substantially vertical position. The board II and its ledge l3 are preferably of wood, plastic, or other suitable non-metallic material. At a suitable distance above the supporting shelf [3, depending upon the len ths of the items of cutlery which are to be displayed, are a series of small magnets l mounted on and projecting from the front face of the board I l and held thereto by bolts or screws I! or other suitable holding means. These magnets are arranged in side-by-side relation to each other, and at varying distances above the shelf l3, so as to be able to accommodate cutlery items of varying length, it being preferable to have the magnet near the upper end of the blade of the cutlery item which it is intended to hold, but far enough down from the point at the end of the blade so that the width of the blade completely hides the magnet.

The various cutlery items of a given manufacturer's line are usually of graduated size, and they make a more pleasing and attractive display if arranged in sequence according to size. As indicated in Fig. l, the display board is shown as having six items of progressively decreasing length, such as the knives a, b, c, and d, and a fork e, and a shorter knife ,1. It will be seen that the magnets l5 are arranged at progressively decreasing heights to accommodate the various articles near the upper end of the blade of each. The term blade as here used is intended in a broad or generic sense and includes the metallic portion of the fork e as well as the blades of the knives.

From Fig. 2 it will be seen that each magnet l5 has a thickness, in a direction perpendicular to the board ll, approximately equal to half the thickness of the handle of the cutlery item, less half the thickness of the blade, so that when the handle rests on the ledge or shelf l3 and in contact with the front face of the display board II, and the blade is in contact with the magnet ii, the blade will lie substantially parallel to the front face of the display board.

In the preferred form of construction the magnets are not sufficiently powerful to support the Whole weight of a cutlery item, but are sufficiently powerful to hold the blade upright and keep it from tilting either outwardly away from the face of the display board, or sideways in a direction parallel to the face of the display board. The .weight of the article is supported by the shelf l3, so that the magnet l5 does not need to support this weight and hence the magnet can be quite small, being entirely hidden from view behind the blade of the. cutlery item. The magnet is preferably of the U-shaped form shown in Fig. 4, but may be of circular rather than rectangular outline, if desired, magnets of circular outline being shown in Fig. 1, in connection with some of the cutlery items, while magnets of rectangular outline are shown. in connection with other items.

With this arrangement, it is seen that when the customer decides tentatively upon one of the items of the display board, either the customer or the clerk can quickly take the selected item of! of the display board simply by lifting it away from the board, with very slight force, which will free the blade from the magnetic influence of the magnet. The customer can actually feel the knife or fork or other cutlery item, can try the balance of it in his hand, and he or the clerk can put the item back in place and pick up another one to try, if so desired. When the customer finds one of the cutlery items which completely satisfies him, the clerk wraps up this identical item which the customer has selected, rather than get a duplicate from stock. Thus the customer knows that the very same item which he selected is the one he is purchasing and taking away with him, and he is not kept while the clerk secures a duplicate item from stock, as is necessary with the prior display boards. After the clerk has finished waiting on the customer, he takes a duplicate item out of stock and places it on the cutlery board to complete or replenish the display.

There is no difilculty in dusting a display board of this kind, for the items displayed can instantly be removed from the display board for dusting the individual items as well as the board itself, and they can then be replaced on the board with no substantial effort. Dusting has been particularly diilicult and the results thereof have been very unsatisfactory, in connection with the prior display boards in which the cutlery items are fastened to the boards by wires or screws.

Although the vertical arrangement of the displayed items is the preferred one, yet the same principles of the invention may be applied where it is preferred to have'the items displayed hori- Zontally. This arrangement is shown in Fig. 3. The display board 2i is provided with series of magnets 25 which are arranged one above another, rather than side-by-side, although they need not be in perfect vertical alinement, some lateral offset being advantageous in order to accommodate cutlery blades of different lengths. At suitable elevations approximately opposite the magnets 25 there are ledges, brackets, or other supports for supporting the handles of the cutlery items. These brackets or supports are conveniently in the form of pegs E! projecting from the face of the cutlery board. The knives, forks, or other cutlery items are placed on the board as indicated at 9', k, m, and n in Fig. 3, with the handle of each cutlery item supported by one of the projections or pegs 21, and with the blade in contact with the appropriate magnet 25 and supported by its frictional engagement therewith. Thus the magnet itself does not have to support the entire weight of the item but only a small fraction thereof, the main weight being supported by the support or abutment 21. The use of this form of the invention is the same as in the other form previously described. The magnets, as before, are preferably secured by bolts or screws to the display board, and the magnets may be of the same form shown in Fig. 4 or of the circular outline form as previously mentioned.

In both forms of the invention, the supports l3 or 21 are, like the board II or 2| itself, preferably wood, plastic, or other non-metallic material, but there is no particular objection to having them metallic if so desired. The supports and the board could even be of a magnetic substance (but not magnetized) if desired, but if they are to be made of metal, it is preferred to make them of a non-magnetic metal (e. g., copper or aluminum) so that there will not be any substantial body of magnetic material in close proximity to the permanent magnets themselves, to detract from the magnetic lines of force available for holding the cutlery blades against the permanent magnets. The cutlery blades are, as usual, made of magnetic substance, such as the usual cutlery steel.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentioned objects of the invention are admirably fulfilled. It is to be understood that the foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only, rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from the invention, the details may be varied within the scope of appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cutlery display device comprising a nonmagnetic board adapted to be mounted in an approximately vertical position, a support plojecting outwardly from the face of said board and adapted to have a handle of a cutlery article rest on said support, and a magnet mounted on said board and associated with said support and having an outer face adapted to lie against one face of a blade of the cutlery article whose handle rests on said support, to hold said blade against tilting, said face of said magnet being offset outwardly from the face of said board through a distance equal approximately to one half the thickness of the handle of the cutlery article less one half the thickness of the blade thereof, so that said blade, when engaged with said face of said magnet will lie approximately parallel to the face of said board.

2. A display board for a cutlery article of the type having a handle and a blade, said display board comprising an abutment portion for engaging the handle of the article and a magnet having a front face for engaging the rear face of the blade and magnetically holding the blade of the article to maintain the front face of the blade in visible display position, said magnet being of smaller outline than said blade so as to I be hidden from view by the blade when the blade is viewed normally from the front.

3. A display ho der including a panel of substantial area, a plurality of magnets mounted on said panel in spaced relation to each other and having front faces adapted to underlie the rear faces of the blades of cutlery articles to hold the cutlery articles removably in display position with the blades of the articles approximately parallel to the face of the panel, each blade being held by its own individual magnet, and abutment means on said panel for engaging the handles of the cutlery articles to support part of the weight of each cutlery article.

4. A display holder as described in claim 3, in which said abutment means comprises an approximately horizontal ledge for engaging the handles of all of the cutlery articles to hold the lower ends of all. of the cutlery articles at approximately a uniform elevation.

5. A display holder as described in claim 3, in which each of said magnets is of smaller frontface outline than the face outline of the blade held thereby, so that the magnet is hidden from view by the blade when the blade is viewednormally from the front.

EMERSON CASE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Gilbert Sept. 5, 1944 

